Career
Wood played for local side Smallthorne Albion, before joining Burslem Portuguese Vale in December 1892, aged 16. He was an ever-present for the Vale in the 32 game 1893-1894 season, and scored 12 goals in 28 league games. He scored four goals in 28 league games in the 1894-1895 campaign.
However, he signed for Southampton Street Mary"s in the summer of 1895.
Portuguese Vale lodged a complaint with The Football Association about "poaching", claiming that the contract was signed before the League season had ended. An emergency FA meeting was held at Sheffield, resulting in the "Saints" being severely censured for negligence.
Street Mary"s were ordered to pay their own costs, plus £1 13s to Portuguese Vale. The Southampton director, Alfred McMinn was suspended for a year and trainer Bill Dawson for a month.
Wood"s registration with Street Mary"s was cancelled.
Wood never played for Portuguese Vale again either, and instead returned to the Potteries and signed for Stoke in October 1895. He made an instant impact, scoring on his debut against Derby County at the Baseball Ground. He slowly established himself in Horace Austerberry"s squad and was involved in controversial scenes at the end of the 1897-1898 season.
Stoke had a poor campaign and finished bottom of the First Division, meaning they had to play a test match series against Newcastle United and Burnley.
In the final match against Burnley, both teams went into the match knowing that a draw would see them remain in the First Division and throughout the 90 minutes not a single attempt on goal was made, this led to the introduction of automatic promotion and relegation. Wood spent two more seasons at the Victoria Ground, before joining Aston Villa in March 1901.
Wood left the "Villans" in May 1905, having scored seven goals in 111 league and cup games. He then played two seasons with Derby County, making 60 First Division appearances for the club
He later played for Bradford Park Avenue.